Veins, 2024

Veins, 2024, Metal, paint, 283 × 158 × 82 cm, Dimensions variable

With this sculpture Álvaro Urbano stages a seemingly inconspicuous scene. A vine climbs a water pipe, transforming the exhibition space into a back-alley or another unspecified street tableau. The artificiality of these objects is only revealed when looked closely. The painted metal makes evident a carefully crafted normality. For Urbano, sculpture is a practice in which materials are set out for acting and performing as something else, painting is used as camouflage to channel a certain mood or narrative. Appearance becomes a tool for storytelling. 

The effort to articulate this scene reflects the attention of the artist towards the poetics of the moment. A memory of something that has been gazed quickly but that somehow remains ingrained in sight. The pertinence of the scene can only be a source of speculation, while it invites new possible interpretations. The non-place is a constant theme within Urbano’s practice, this refers to spaces that are often dedicated for transit or waiting and frequently escape the attention of the passerby. As a non-place that lacks any defining identity, the viewers become active characters who fill in the blanks with their own behaviour and reactions. 

The title of the work makes reference to the sense of circulation. Both stems and pipes are paths for water to flow, parallel to how our own bodies work. This mirroring of function is a way for the artist to present a poetic interpretation of a mundane sight.